Born: 1960 Primary Instrument: Saxophone
The first jazz record I heard was Cannonball Adderley’s Live at the Club. Music laughed and cried while the audience clapped and shouted encouragement. The experience of that feeling became my calling.
For 37 years I studied, performed, composed, recorded and taught music. A peak experience came in 1998 when I recorded with drummer Elvin Jones. Before the recording his wife said, “The music may be good or bad. What’s important is the feeling.” Sage advice – craft should be subservient to authentic expression.
At a concert of 19th century Spanish guitar music I recognized that authenticity again – an abstract expression of pain and joy. I also heard the same emotional warmth echoed in 20th century Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. I envisioned a bridge between the feeling in his music and jazz.
As I developed the Villa-Lobos inspired concert program in 2009, writing became important to me. Each musical piece became a scene. I wrote a narrative thread to weave the music into a larger story for the audience. Until this concert, I attempted to tell stories exclusively through the abstract language of music. But writing gave me tools to communicate more directly – to meld history with music.
In 2010 I began writing for a Seattle magazine, Earshot Jazz. Monthly profiles of artists, venues, books, and concerts prompted me to find new source material and compose a compelling narrative of Seattle history. Now I relish the opportunity to describe music to a wide audience from a musician’s perspective.
Awards:
2012: 4Culture Historic Site Specific project grant to create music and spoken word concerts at the Panama Hotel based on Oscar Holden, the patriarch of Seattle Jazz
2012: 4Culture Individual Artist Grant to collect oral histories for a biography of saxophonist/educator Joe Brazil
2010: Longfellow Chorus Award of Distinction in the 2010 Composition Competition
2001: Earshot Jazz Voice and Vision Series
2001: Gavin National Jazz Radio Charts for “Steve Griggs Quintet LIVE!” #17 with 56 stations reporting
2001: ASCAPLUS Award
2000: Voice of America radio play for “Jones for Elvin – Volume 2”
2000: ASCAPLUS Award
1999: ASCAPLUS Award
1997: Jack Straw Foundation Artist Assistance Award
Last Updated: January 21, 2013
”Griggs neither showboats nor intellectualizes during performance. On the 'Jones for Elvin' recordings, his saxophone tone is warm and inviting, sometimes as smoky and intoxicating as an opium den. Other times it is lucid and airy, almost transparent, as if a spirit's breath was blowing through his instrument. While not a copy of Coltrane's style, Griggs' playing is imbued with a meditative presence. It is an expression of how he feels about jazz, though he also is appreciative of his classical training.” - Roberta Penn, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2009: Microsoft/Bungie, “Halo: ODST”
2005: Gregg Keplinger, “Absurd World Country”, Origin
2002: Gregg Keplinger, “Not Out for Anywhere”, Origin
2001: Steve Griggs, “Steve Griggs Quintet LIVE!”, Hip City Music
2000: John Bishop, “The Piano: The Best of Seattle Jazz”, Origin
2000: Steve Griggs, “Jones for Elvin – Volume 2”, Hip City Music
1999: Steve Griggs, “Jones for Elvin – Volume 1”, Hip City Music
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